Russian wins Norway's $1 million Abel math prize

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters said Wednesday the 78-year-old researcher and teacher is one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. He won the prize for his "fundamental contributions to dynamical systems, ergodic theory, and mathematical physics."

Sinai, of Princeton University and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has written more than 250 research papers, with much of his work becoming a standard toolbox for mathematical physics. He has received numerous international awards and is an honorary member of mathematical societies and academies.